Fall TV Line-Up: Superheroes Edition

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Summer’s almost over, which means fall television season will soon arrive to rescue us from the doldrums of work and school. New and returning shows will be vying for DVR space, turning it into an all-out war for your small screen attention.

Which makes now the perfect time to binge on programs with heroes, villains, and not-so-secret identities.

[Please note: There are spoilers for the last season of all of these shows below.]

Shows like…

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. [Returns Tuesday, September 29th on ABC]

With the summer winding down we say sayonara to Marvel’s big screen superheroes and hidey ho! to Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The non-spandex wearing agents are back for a third season, and the big to-do will be focused on beloved characters from SECRET WARS, the Inhumans. (Last season already had a few revelations on this.) What we really want to know is this: will Agent Coulson’s soon-to-be robotic left arm will help or hinder the team? We’re confident the writers have something else up their sleeve—pun totally intended. (The one that still has a fleshy appendage, obviously.)

The Flash [Returns Tuesday, October 6th on the CW]

A killer first season means the creators of The Flash have more than a running start on our expectations. Barry Allen finally defeated Reverse Flash in the finale, so the new season will (most likely) offer a new Big Bad. Tom Cavanagh, who played Reverse F, is returning—but if you know the show you know what that really means (and we won’t tell you here lest you’re new to the series. We don’t want to spoil you). The last we saw Flash he was heading into the eye of a universe-destroying singularity. Somehow, we’re betting the universe doesn’t end.

Arrow [Returns Wednesday, October 7th on the CW]

Okay, we know the season is written and (mostly) filmed, but can we please not have a finale where Arrow must save Starling City from annihilation yet again? Last season was problematic for several reasons: Ra’s al Ghul was a bore, Felicity cried way too much, and Diggles had nothing to do. So here’s hoping that Oliver Queen and his team can shake things up. Actor Stephen Amell hinted as much in an interview saying that he’d never wear the Arrow suit again which sounded like a big deal since that’s the show’s title, but then the Comic-Con panel revealed a new suit for… “Green” Arrow. No matter, we’ll be watching as long as our hero still says, “Mr. Trump, you have failed this city!” whilst dispatching justice.

Expect crossover episodes of both The Flash and Arrow leading up to the premiere of Legends of Tomorrow next year. Can we assume we’ll find out how Black Canary—sorry, we mean “White Canary”—is brought back to the life? By that we mean, we don’t remember the Lazarus Pit working on corpses that are months old.

Gotham [Returns Monday, October 21st on Fox]

If baddies are your thing here’s hoping Fox’s second season of Gotham can do what some argue the first could not: be engaging. An erratic art style for the titular town, and way too many origins made the tale of young cop Gordon a mess. Michelle Veintimilla joins the cast as the villainous Firefly who, in the past, has been male. Will she be able top Jada Pinkett Smith’s Fish Mooney? (She was arguably the best thing about season one.) Will Selena Kyle finally evolve from Les Misérables street urchin to kick-ass anti-hero? Our fiendish claws are itching for dirty deeds done dirt cheap with cat puns.

And, of course, we’d be remiss to not mention the new folks en route. Like…

Heroes Reborn [Premieres Thursday, September 24th on NBC]

Nine years after debuting on NBC, one of TV’s first super-powered hit shows returns as Heroes Reborn. Some of the original cast members will do the same—like Jack Coleman and fan fav Masi Oka. To what capacity, however, remains to be seen. The promo clip introduced several new “Enhanced Humans” cropping up all over the world a la Sens8. Alas, that saved cheerleader that saved the world is now a country star on ABC’s Nashville so don’t expect Hayden Panettiere to well, you know… At least the villainous Luke (Zachary Levi) will be back.

Supergirl [Premieres Monday, October 26th on CBS]

This particular writer has seen the pilot and we have to say: who would have guessed the best superhero pilot in years would be this? Show producer Greg Berlanti (Arrow) and Allison Adler (Chuck) melded the terrific pacing of Arrow, added the humor of Chuck, and made a Kryptonite-proof network comic book show. Melissa Benoist—who was seen briefly in last year’s Whiplash—is perfect as Kal El’s older cousin Kara. True Blood’s Brit Morgan has been added to the cast as a villain, and Calista Flockhart stares down Kara as a Devil Wears Prada-esque boss. What remains to be seen is if the show will excel at world-building like Arrow and Flash. Still, Kara’s complete joy when using her powers is reminiscent of the best Spider-Man films, which is to say, super. Yes, we are complimenting DC property by way of Marvel but it fits. Up, up, and away, indeed!

What shows are you excited to see this fall? Sound off in the comments!